The Time we Lost
by NachoMama37
Summary: Jaune searched the world when Ruby disappeared in an ambush five years ago. The others lost hope one by one, leaving him the only one hoping to find her one day. His world gets turned upsided down when Nora summons him to an isolated village. Now Ruby must try to bridge the gap and repair the hurt as Jaune bonds with his twins, will they ever have what they had before?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: The prologue/simple wholesome conclusion/sorta outline to this can be found in ABC's of Lancaster, chapters K and L, though this wont necessarily follow that. Is this possibly my most cliché story yet? I mean… I love clichés so… I'll at least try and give it my own spin. It's such a fun concept to play with.

"That petulant child fights me at every turn." Watts ranted, pacing in Salem's throne room. "She's blasted every one of my grimm with those accused silver eyes. I've run out of the specimens Merlot has sent and now we discover the little wretch is expecting! That was a variable I hadn't counted on, two months of wasted time! I've had enough of dealing with that brat, she remains defiant, even with my aura draining bug!"

Salem watched the scientist, she looked almost bored. "Yes, it would seem we've learned all we can from this one. Hazel, fetch Tyrian and Cinder for me, tell them their patience will be rewarded." Watts remained silent, a huge grin spreading on his face.

Hazel kept his face neutral even though he didn't like the way this was sounding. "You intend to let them kill the girl?" he needed clarification.

"Yes, she's outlived her usefulness." Salem waved him off, quite done with the conversation.

"What about the child she's carrying? Can it wait until after." Hazel began, Salem interrupted.

"The child could well have silver eyes like it's mother and would need dealt with. We shall finish things quickly, it would be the more humane solution, do you not agree?" Though Salem's voice was calm as ever, the weight of a threat came through clearly.

Hazel bowed to show submission. "Yes, I understand, I will inform Cinder and Tyrian once they arrive."

"Very good, and Hazel, I'm counting on you." The false praise in her voice sent shivers down Hazel's spine. Several hours later found Hazel pacing the halls, if he let the child die he was no better than Ozpin, that fact was eating away at him. Emerald approached him unexpectedly.

"Is it true? Has Salem issued the order to kill Ruby?" She asked, quietly, as if trying to not be heard.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Hazel didn't notice his slip of tongue.

This was a risky venture Emerald was about to suggest, if she was misreading things the next sentence she spoke could spell her doom. "There's a cargo ship due to leave in a few hours, plenty of boxes, perfect foe smuggling live cargo." Her heart was racing, she'd said it, she hoped desperately she had read the situation correctly. She would never tell Cinder, over the last two weeks she had found reason to speak with Ruby often. She had began to think of the captive as a friend, once Watts figured out Ruby would become a mother their talks had of course centered around that fact. The love Ruby radiated towards her unborn child struck a chord in her, she never had a mother but she could tell Ruby would make a great one, she had to save her, or at least try.

Hazel stopped his pacing, leveling Emerald with a look she couldn't quite decipher. "You can use your semblance on Watts if we're caught? Make him believe the girl is still in her cell?"

Em sighed in relief, nodding in response, that set the impromptu rescue mission in motion. "The aura bug will be a problem."

"Not for me." Hazel stated simply, luckily neither Watts, nor any member of Salem's goons were around when the two made it to Ruby's cell. The door was opened by Hazel, Ruby kept a wary eye on him, once she had backed herself into a wall she was picked up none too gently. Hazel had her dangling, holding her with one hand, Ruby struggled against him shouting to be put down. Emerald shushed her harshly, emerging from the hall, explaining as quietly and quickly as she could the situation at hand. Hazel used his free hand to squash the bug at the nape of Ruby's neck, it made a sickening squeal as it died. Ruby was blindfolded, shoved into the airship and hidden behind piles of boxes. She remained silent the entire time, Emerald advised her to not draw any attention to herself.

"I'm not doing this for you, you chose death when you chose to fight on behalf of Ozpin. I couldn't look at myself knowing an innocent child died because of my inaction. The next time we meet, I will end you, make no mistake." With his peace said, the "cargo" safely hidden, he slammed the cargo hold closed.

Five years later.

Nora loved visiting new places a huge smile spread on her face as the newest destination began coming into view. A tiny, rarely used seaport village, it was said to be an ideal spot for a quiet vacation, it didn't offer much other than welcoming townsfolk and nice scenery. The sleepy little place was so far off the beaten path it had been spared the fate of tourists hot spot that so plagued other beachside communities. She and Ren had only learned of it's existence when they completed a mission from an ex-resident. The more the little settlement came into view the more of it's charm she was seeing, she could hardly wait to start exploring the place. Ren seemed just as interested in taking in the sights if the smile on his face was anything to go by. They finally made dock and retrieved their luggage a friendly local took the time to walk them all the way to the little lodge near the center of town.

Once their room was sorted the two headed out to explore the town. They didn't get too far when the scents of the local diner drew them in. Once seated the waitress came by taking their orders, once she left to put the orders in a little old man at the table next to theirs struck up conversation. "We don't get too many visitors 'round these parts, where 'bouts you two blow in from?" He drawled in that slow, friendly way older folks do.

"All over really, we're travelling huntsmen." Nora answered, happy to launch into conversation with the adorable old man.

The old gentleman nodded in approval. "That's fine work, bit dangerous though, not a huntsman nor huntress alive that hasn't lost a friend or two along the way. It takes a strong spirit and even stronger resolve to put your own life above others like that."

There was something in the way the old man spoke that struck a chord. "Have you lost someone?" Ren questioned.

The gentleman nodded. "I have, my son, 'bout twenty years ago now. Thanks to him an entire village was saved from the grimm. What about the two of you? Your eyes are far too wizened for your age, have you lost a friend, maybe a family member?"

Nora looked down at her hands before returning her gaze to the gentleman. "Two friends, but they were both like family to us. One at the fall of Beacon, one five years ago."

The old man sighed. "This world of ours takes so much sometimes, but this old man has come to realize it gives us something in return." He spoke lightly, wistfully.

"Our memories of the ones we lost, they help us move forward, even on our toughest days." Ren nodded, smiling.

The old man chuckled. "Bingo! That's it exactly! Here I was thinking I was gonna drop some knowledge on the younger generation too! Oh well, names Oliver by the way."

"Names Nora, and this is Ren." The redhead said pointing to her man.

Oliver chuckled. "You're a lively one I can tell, I'll bet our resident huntress would get a kick out of you."

"Resident huntress?" Ren questioned, that wasn't a term he heard much of, most hunters roamed and travelled around.

"You see, our little village is so far off the beaten path we cant rely on you normal roaming huntsmen and women. Years ago one of the founders set up a special contract to get what you could call a live in huntsman or huntswoman, as the case may be. The job doesn't pay much, a small annual salary, a warm place to live rent free, and our endless gratitude. We had been without a hunter for many years when that young lady arrived 'bout three years ago. She's a pretty thing too, caught the interest of the towns local bachelors, all three of them." He laughed heartily. "Shoulda seen the look on their faces when she turned them all down, one by one, seems her heart lies elsewhere." His watch beeped at him. "Oh, look at the time, better head home before the missus has my head. If you run into our huntress tell her ole Oliver says hello." He stood, tipping his hat at Ren and Nora. "I live over next to the general store, feel free to pop in if you wanna chat, or need anything while your in town." He waved goodbye and left an amused Ren and Nora in his wake.

When the two had finished their lunch and requested their check they were shocked to find old man Oliver had taken care of the tab, it was a pleasant surprise. Next on the agenda was some shopping, or, really just poking around the little shops in the town. They were met with warmth and friendship at every turn leaving them both in great moods. "This place reminds me a lot of the town where Jaune upgraded his armor for the first time." Nora mused before smirking. "I don't think I'd ever seen Ruby laugh as hard as she did that day."

Ren laughed. "Nor had I, she would have liked this village." He sighed, Nora just smiled at him before linking their hands together. They walked quietly enjoying the sights and sounds of the little community allowing their worries to float away. They walked along the streets taking in the quaint and cozy houses, the quirky stores, and lovely little beach front before deciding to call it a day and head back to the inn. Taking the scenic route they turned a corner, and stopped dead in their tracks.

Half a continent away, two weeks later, a starless night finds Jaune checking into a lodge. Once in his room his equipment is dumped unceremoniously on the floor before he flops onto the bed. His hand finds a small silver chain around his neck, attached to the chain a small, simple rose gold band. He holds the ring above his head, this was his ritual. It was meant to be an engagement ring, he never got the chance. He closes his eyes and allows the ring to return to its place resting on his neck as he falls asleep after another days fruitless searching. He dreams again of the ambush, his fuzzy recollection of seeing Hazel carrying Ruby off, it had been the catalyst for an all out search that lasted well over two months before one by one members of their group lost heart and hope. The remnants of Team Ranger ended up being the only ones left searching, a year later Ren and Nora gave up hope, and then there was one, just him with a burning belief she was alive and would be found.

Jaune managed to keep hope alive as he traveled, the tiny band nestled safely on its necklace had become a physical representation to him. His dreams haunted him, playing out the same scenario time and time again. She would be within his grasp and as their hands met she burst into rose petals, scattering in the wind, out of his reach forever. Some days he would wake and allow himself to wallow in misery, other days the dreams urged him forward. He woke the next morning feeling the later, he walked the town, talking with anyone that would listen, asking around about a silver eyed woman. The day was a bust, and while it was no surprise he was feeling quite defeated. His travels more often than not took him to locations outside the cct networks, honestly it had been a good few years since he were in anything but local coverage.

Ren and Nora had taken to traveling in the same general areas so that did allow them to cross paths occasionally, in fact they'd plan routes together leaving strategic meetup locations every few months. These meetups gave him something to look forward to. They were the only ones he ever crossed paths with, sometimes he would feel disheartened not knowing where the rest of his friends were or how they were doing, though the very nature of his self imposed mission made encountering them highly unlikely. In fact, he was only in this little settlement because it was one of the meetup spots for he, Ren and Nora. He was surprised to say the least when the innkeeper waved him over handing him a letter. He waited to open it until he was in his room, his heart sank upon reading the first line.

"Hi Jaune,

Ren and I can't make it this time, something big came up. We need you, so get your butt to Sandalwood Village as soon as possible!

Hurry up,

-Nora"

The letter didn't give him any clue as to what was going on, though it did leave him worrying. The next morning he headed out, there weren't any airpads and no roads traveled often enough to really properly be called roads on the way there. It was two weeks of hard travelling with his mind spinning one scenario after another. Were they captured? Was Ren hurt? His mind spinning worst cases on a loop. Standing on the hill that overlooked Sandalwood Village caused a bit of a short circuit in his brain. The place seemed perfectly idealic, it was well kept, no sign of grimm and no sign of any recent disasters. He scratched his head wondering what Nora was up to before tucking the letter away and heading down. He stopped a few townsfolk asking if they knew Nora or Ren, explaining that he was looking to meet them here, but his friend didn't provide an address. When no one seemed to know he decided to head to the towns inn, he had found innkeepers almost always had all the best information, surely they'd know.

It wasn't long before he found himself in front of The Rosewood Inn. The rose emblem adorning either side of the sign caused him to hesitate. He closed his eyes to calm his nerves when something ran into him causing him to nearly lose his balance.

"Oww." A small voice whined, looking down Jaune couldn't help but smile at a small child with a mop of black hair rubbing his forehead. Immediately behind the little boy sat a little girl with long, bright golden hair also rubbing her head. It was pretty obvious the two were chasing each other causing a chain collision when one ran into his leg.

"You two okay?" Jaune asked almost immediately, offering his hands to help the two up.

"Sorry mister." The little girl apologized.

"We were playing tag." The little boy explained.

Jaune laughed which caused the two little ones to look up at him for the first time. His breath caught as two sets of silver eyes shined up at him. It seemed the two were equally in awe of him if the shock on their faces was anything to go by. Jaune took a few steps back trying to take more of the two tots in. The kids seemed to have a different idea, their eyes shone in excitement as the two launched themselves at him. A flash of red filled his vision, a second later his heart stopped, he forgot how to breathe, speak or blink. Red tipped black hair waved in the breeze along with a familiar red cloak, the two kids tucked one under each arm. She sighed, placing the kids down before kneeling to their level. "Jonah, Sumner, you two know better than to run off like that!" She scolded.

"Sorry mama." The two chorused in unison.

"Don't tell me sorry, you tell the nice man you nearly tackled sorry. You two know better than to harass strangers." She scolded again.

"But mama." Summer whined, on the verge of tears.

"Nuh uh, no buts missy!" Ruby scolded, pointing her finger for effect.

"He's not a stranger!" Jonah demanded seriously.

"Jonah." Ruby warned.

"Mama, it's true, we know him!" Summer insisted, starting to sniffle.

Her curiosity was piqued, it wasn't like the twins to fib, she stood before turning around. Her hands flew to her mouth and she gasped. "Jaune?"

Hearing his name broke him out of the spell he was under, he reached out finally able to speak. "After all this time, is it really you?"

Ruby grabbed his hand with both of hers. "It's me." She whispered overcome with emotion. Jaune pulled her into a hug, burying his head in her hair, they both cried overcome with happiness and relief. A familiar tug on her cloak grabbed her attention. Jonah had one hand on her cape and the other was holding his sisters hand.

"Mama, are you okay?" The little boy asked seriously while Summer looked Jaune over skeptically.

Ruby laughed lightly before sweeping the two into a hug. "I'm just really happy my loves." She explained. She turned facing Jaune again. "I had all these grand ideas about how this day would go if I ever got to see you again." Ruby sniffled, overcome by emotions, she took a breath to steady herself while Jaune looked on a bit confused, she grabbed his hand, looked him in the eyes. "Jaune, meet Summer and Jonah Arc, they're our children."

Jaune blinked confused, overwhelmed, brain shorting out on him. "Our children…"

Ruby wiped her eyes and nodded. "You're a father, Jaune." The words sunk in finally, Jaune wobbled on his feet, promptly fainting.

A/N: While the chapters in ABC's were written for comedy/fluffy wholesome goodness, expect this to be a bit more on the drama side. Sorry not sorry for the cheesy name, heh.


	2. Chapter 2: Of Walks and Talks

A/N: This story wont leave me alone right now, but I intend this to be fairly short, like 6 chapters or so. I'm waiting on the muse to pick up on my griffon story, she's pretty irked that I accidentally deleted the chapter 2k words into it… and it wasn't backed up. I have a new problem Marrow! I kinda sorta ship him and Ruby, but like only a little and only if RT end up not giving me Lancaster as end game.

Jaune knew he was dreaming, he always knew because the scene was always the same. The ambush, Hazel, Ruby just out of grasp or bursting into petals when their hands touched. Only, this time their hands connected, she smiled at him "Welcome home."

"Jaune, Jaune.. earth to Jauney boy." Nora sing songed, patting at the unconscious knights face, frowning when there was no response. "Grr, wake up already!" She sighed, flopping down on the edge of the bed.

"Why are you in my room? I was having a really good dream too." Jaune grumbled and whined, mind still full of fog. Nora's poking, prodding and shaking of the bed rousing him from his slumber.

She smirked. "I'm not in your room."

Jaune groaned, rolling over away from her. "Yea, yea, it's the hotels room, whatever, let me sleep." He waved her off, he wasn't in the mood to play games.

Nora snickered. "Jaune, you're in Ruby's guest room." That did the trick, the blonde sat straight, shock and joy mixing on his face.

"It's not a dream!" He stated, whispering in near reverence. "Ruby's here..I.. have children?"

"Twins to be exact." Nora pointed out, holding two fingers up, smiling brightly. " Now c'mon, papa, Ruby and Ren are making dinner." She stood to leave, stopping at the doorway when she looked back at him she was suddenly serious. "Hey, Jaune?" She asked haltingly, confusing the blonde, he raised his eyebrow at her. " Nevermind, hurry out, we're celebrating tonight." Nora's smile returned as she disappeared down the hall. Jaune found his way to the kitchen, following the sounds and smells, a smile spread across his face as he watched from the kitchen doorway. The kids were drawing at the kitchen table, their eyes would meet once in awhile, they'd smile and go back to drawing. Ren and Ruby chatted quietly while chopping and cooking. It hit Jaune at that moment how much he had missed out on, the first sour seeds of an ugly emotion began to settle in his gut. It had been a fleeting, jarring feeling, one that was soon overtaken by a lively dinner. The twins told him all about their day at daycare, Nora and Ren supplied stories about their travels, and Ruby deflected when Jaune asked how she wound up in this village .

When dinner was over and the kitchen cleaned, the night time routine for the kids began. There were baths to be had, heads of hair to brush, teeth to brush, clothes for the next day laid out and the days laundry started. The last part of the routine was bedtime and bedtime meant story time, the twins absolutely insisting Jaune be the one to read to them. He beamed with pride taking on the task, honestly it felt a bit awkward, and Jonah playfully scolded him for not voicing one of the characters right but he plugged on, finishing the book. Ruby tucked the kids in bed, booping Jonah's nose and giving Summer eskimo kisses, Jaune wasn't sure how to do this part so he settled for ruffling their hair and telling them goodnight. Ruby turned on the nightlight, turned the overhead light off before closing the door, but only mostly. The kids dealt with they headed to the living room to join Ren and Nora.

"So, how'd it feel putting your kids to bed papa?" Nora smiled, radiating her happiness.

Jaune rubbed his neck. ""Great, but honestly it felt awkward and nerve-wracking too, I was afraid I was gonna mess up!"

Ruby laughed. "I thought you did a great job."

"Yea, but, Jonah scolded me when I did the bear voice wrong." Jaune whined.

"He's like that a lot, don't let it bother you." Ruby explained, sighing before flopping backwards on the couch ending up in a weird half laying sit.

"What are the kids like? The little I've seen I haven't been able to really put their personalities together." Jaune was eager to learn all he could.

Ruby sat up stretching, stifling a yawn. "Jonah is fifteen minutes older than Summer, he takes his job as "the big brother" very seriously. He tends to act braver than he really is. Summer is really sensitive, she can be a crybaby at times, she's a bit shier and more reserved, unless she is defending someone she cares about, then she's brave."

"I can't wait to get to know them!" The newly minted father was so excited.

Ruby's scroll rang interrupting their talk, she frowned at the little device before answering and walking off to the kitchen. Jaune looked to Ren and Nora receiving a shrug from both.

"Probably work stuff, she's the towns contracted huntress." Nora suggests, not thinking much about it.

The nonstop newness of the days events began wearing off, leaving Jaune to catch his breath and really begin to start processing things. A gnawing, sinking feeling beginning to settle at the pit of his stomach, his mind throwing a thousand questions at him.

"Jaune?" Ren called out sensing the change in mood from his friend.

The blonde knew he couldn't hide his feelings from Ren, he sighed. "It's nothing, just wondering about some things."

Nora laughed out of nowhere causing the guys to look at her. "Remember that town on top of the mountain?" She snickered.

Jaune groaned. " I try not to." He whined. "It's embarrassing!"

Ruby was now back in the room, she flopped down on the couch with a groan, one arm covering her eyes. "Whyyyy." She whined.

"Is something wrong?" Jaune found himself pushing his questions aside, ready to aid Ruby in whatever was happening."

"The mayor keeps begging me to join the village council." Ruby waived in the general direction of the mayors office.

Nora raised her eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Ruby laughed humorously. "It would be on top of my huntress duties, with the twins, keeping the house up, and everything else I don't know when the man would expect me to sleep! I can't do it, plus there'd be all the public speaking, I'm not cut out for that!"

"This town really thinks highly of you if they want you on their council." Nora beamed, always happy to see her friends succeeding, even if the friend wasn't accepting the offered "promotion."

Nora's words struck a chord in Jaune, he decided it was time to start getting answers, before he could Ruby beat him to the punch. "What was embarrassing?" she deflected the conversation off of herself, Nora dissolving into a fit of giggles.

Jaune flushed, looking away from everyone. "I'd rather not talk about it, thank you very much, Nora!" Ruby looked between the two, curiosity eating at her.

"An older woman mistook her room for ours, I guess Nora and I forgot to lock the door when we stepped out." Ren began explaining.

"Oh, C'mon not you too Ren!" The blonde protested.

"Long story short, she chased Jaune out of the shower and into the hall with nothing but a towel." The redhead managed between giggles.

"It was quite the spectacle." Ren finished up, also laughing.

"C'mon guys, it wasn't that funny!" Jaune protested as Ruby laughed, soon Jaune's protests and Nora's added details, complete with impressions of all the other guests at the inn's reactions to the stark naked knight in the hall filled the room. She had missed this, all of this so much, Ren and Nora showing up out of the blue was great, but with Jaune back, it finally sunk in for her. Ruby's laugh faded, she was overcome with so many emotions her head was spinning. She stood, excusing herself leaving the three others a bit confused.

There was a beat of awkward silence before Ren spoke up. "Jaune." The blonde nodded, honestly he was about to go after her anyway. He found her on the back porch, even with her back to him, even in the moonlit darkness he could tell she was crying. "Is everything okay?" He spoke softly, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder, before he could he found himself wrapped in a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. "I missed you too, I never gave up hope, never stopped looking." He began crying as well, the stress of the last five years releasing as they clung to each other.

The next morning getting the kids ready for daycare was as hectic and chaotic as getting them ready for bed. Breakfast, tooth brushing, Jonah refusing to wear the shirt he had picked out himself last night and rejecting every other shirt in his closet. Jaune managed to keep a straight face when what the little boy wanted to wear was the shirt on an oversized teddy bear. To his surprise and (secret) delight Ruby allowed it. Then there was hair to brush, shoes to get on with backpacks to load up, lunches, thankfully packed the night before to grab. Then finally they were out the door, walking the kids to daycare as a family. It seemed so surreal to Jaune, it was great, it was fantastic, it was everything he ever dreamed it would be. The realization of how many firsts he had been through in a little over twelve hours was striking, he didn't dwell on it too long, content to bask in the moment, though a persistent small thought kept scratching the surface of his thoughts.

Dropping the kids off at daycare was a simple task, convincing himself it was okay to leave them, another ballgame all together. "I went through the same thing, our babies are safe and we'll see them this evening." Ruby reassured him, nudging him with her elbow, he relented, walking beside Ruby taking in the town, nearly every person they passed waved at Ruby. "Next on the agenda is to check the post office and see if I have any pressing matters to attend to."

Jaune raised his eyebrow. "Post office?"

Ruby laughed. "The town is so small we don't have a hunters guild, don't really have enough hunters to have one. I guess the post office was the next logical place to send requests." She shrugged. "It's honesty mostly requests for odd jobs around town, we don't get many grimm except for the annual migration."

"Annual migration?" Jaune repeated, unsure he heard correctly.

"Griffons, they seem to share similar patterns as regular birds, every year they fly south in the fall and north in the spring. Well, that's what Baily thinks at least."

"Baily?" He wondered out loud.

"Baily Indigo, also known as Mayor Indigo. He likes to study grimm in his free time, not that he gets much of that." She trailed off, thinking for a second. "He's a good guy."

Jaune nodded. "Do you and your team report to him?"

Ruby chuckled a bit "I don't have a team. I'm Sandalwood villages lone huntress." She smiled and then sighed. "It's really not that bad working alone most of the time." She looked up at the sky. "It's rough at migration time, there are just so many, it's overwhelming."

That didn't make sense to Jaune. "What about your eyes? Are there just too many?"

Ruby stopped in her tracks, when Jaune turned to look at her he was taken aback by the look of seriousness on her face. "I can't use them any more."

Jaune's eyebrows knitted together as he thought the problem through. "Did they stop working on the grimm?"

She shook her head. "They work fine… I just can't use them. Silver eyed warriors are still being hunted. Salem wants all of us dead. If I use my power.. Jaune, the twins, they have silver eyes." Jaune didn't miss the fear in her voice or the way she shook, terrified of the thought of Salem finding the kids.

"I understand, you've made a good decision." He reassured, as they walked to the post office they were called over by a man in a suit. He was relatively young, not much older than Jaune himself.

"Ah, Ruby, did you take the time to think about my proposal?" A young man, not much older than Jaune called her over.

Ruby sighed. "Yea, sorry Bailey, I'm going to have to turn you down."

Bailey snapped his fingers. "Well darn, I kinda figured you'd say no. I'm still gonna bug you about it until you say yes. My council would be most obliged to have our resident huntress along for the ride."

Ruby sighed dramatically, though she had a smile on her face. "You always were a stubborn one."

Baily feigned hurt. "Why miss Rose, you say that like it's a bad thing."

Ruby lightly punched Baily's shoulder. "Knock it off ya big dork, don't you have a village to run?" she teased.

Baily looked to Jaune, sighing his own dramatic sigh. "Always the same with this one." He jerked his thumb towards Ruby. "I haven't seen you around before, the names Baily Indigo, nice to meet you." Baily held out his hand, Jaune extended his as well and the two shook.

"Jaune Arc." He stated simply.

Baily's eyes widened. "My stars, it's good to finally meet you. Ruby's told so many stories about you I almost feel like I'm meeting a celebrity." He joked, a thought struck him. "Ruby, I want you to take the day off, spend time with your friend." She opened her mouth to protest. "No but's, you do so much for this town, you need to do this for yourself, this time I won't take no for an answer." He pointed, smiling at her.

"Understood Mayor." She saluted "Well, what do you want to do?" She looked to Jaune.

"I would like to walk around town, get to know it better." He decided, with that they said their goodbyes to the mayor and Ruby took up the role of tour guide. They spent hours walking around, she delighted in introducing him to the townsfolks, each with a story about Ruby helping them in some way or another. A majority of the people even mentioned knowing of him, it was a little strange, but in a good way. The two finally headed back to Ruby's home to have lunch. Their discussions of what to make were derailed when Ruby opened the door. The delicious scent of the meal Ren make wafting through the house. The four talked while eating, catching up it was nostalgic and something Jaune hadn't realized he needed so badly, but as Ruby launched into her story about fending off the first migration only days after she moved to the town, the persistent itch at the back of his mind became a thing he could no longer ignore. "Hey, Ruby, can we talk?"

The question sucked the life out of the room instantly, as that phrase tends to do. Ren and Nora looked to each other, then to Ruby before standing and walking out. The sense of dread bubbled in the pit of Ruby's stomach, she knew the questions were coming, knew the second she laid her eyes on Jaune a day ago. That didn't make them any easier to confront, but she would, for him, if that's what he needed. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and looked him in the eyes, she did her best to keep her voice neutral and hide her building panic. "Ask away."

Jaune looked her in the eyes and took a calming breath of his own. "What happened to you after the ambush, where were you all this time? Why didn't you try to find me?" He didn't miss the way she tensed up.

She clasped her hands together looking at them rather than at Jaune. "I was kidnapped, taken to the grimmlands, at least I think so. Salem has a castle although I only saw the dungeon, Salem, she wanted me alive. I'm not sure why, even still, she did. Watts, he experimented, making me use my eyes over and over. He was working with someone named Merlot, I never saw him, but I fought off his grimm, my eyes always won." She fake smiled before sighing.

"How did you get away? Did you know you were expecting?" Jaune's mind sent question after question at him, he wanted to know what if anything she was keeping from him.

Ruby shook her head. "No, I found out when Watts came to my cell to yell at me about it." Her eyes took on a far off look. "It's not how I ever imagined I'd find out." She looked like she was going to say more but she stopped herself.

He could sense her hesitation, still… "How did you escape?"

"I didn't." She explained about Hazel and Emerald.

Five years ago, cargo ship.

It felt like hours had passed since she was unceremoniously tossed in the back of the airship. She waited until landing to remove the blindfold, it had been a promise between them. The second the hull opened she used what energy she had, exploding into her semblance and going as far as she could away from the crew. She managed to find a patch of trees to duck into, a few tense moments and the silence all but confirmed she hadn't been followed. She sat, leaning on a tree, taking a moment to catch her breath and relish in her freedom. Her arms wrapped around her stomach as it sunk in she was actually going to be a mother. She hadn't dared dream of the future while locked away, thoughts of finding her friends and family flooded her mind. "Alright little one, if you want to meet everyone we'd better get going." Ruby was so very tired, her aura wasn't kicking in, if she wasn't so focused on getting to some sort of civilization she would have worried about that a bit more.

The more pressing matter being she had no idea where she was, had no weapon and no scroll. She tried listening for water, watching birds to see which way they were going, trying to discern which way the trees leaned, any and every trick her uncle, father, and time traveling the world taught her, but nothing was helping her. She ended up just picking a direction that felt right and walking, and walking and walking, for what felt like miles. Then the sun began setting, night meant grimm in the darkness and she was too week and tired to even consider building a fire. So began one of the longest nights of her life, she was tired, hungry and thirsty. Still she pushed on, walking well into the next day, praying for a miracle with every breath, every step and when she didn't know if she could go on a miracle did indeed happen. Team SSSN crossed paths with her, she is fairly certain they fired a million questions at her, but knowing she was safe among friends she passed out, muttering something about a baby.

Two days later she woke in a hospital, Sun had barely left her side, leaving the job of contacting everyone to Neptune. Sun got the honor of telling her she was having twins… he also had the unfortunate duty of telling her Jaune, Ren and Nora had dropped off the radar, Neptune had not been able to get ahold of any of her teammates, it wasn't surprising really, Ironwoods grand Idea of the Amity Tower had failed on launch, global communications were still out. Sun and his team stayed with her the entire two weeks it took for her aura to recover. Once released they accompanied her to Patch, earning the honor of being named the twins godfathers, all four of them. Tai was ecstatic to see Ruby alive and well, even more so to learn he had his first grandkids on the way. A newscast one day announced the new head of The Schnee Dust Company, it wasn't too much of a surprise to learn it was Weiss.

A quick letter and a month later Weiss was on Patch. She promised to keep an eye out for everyone , if they came to Mantle or Atlas they would pop up on her scroll. Ruby learned that everyone split off after she disappeared. It wasn't a month later when Yang and Blake came to patch, more heartfelt and tearful reunions were had. The two stayed a few weeks before heading to Atlas to help coordinate the search for Jaune, Ren and Nora. They managed to find Qrow and Oscar along the way, but they always had near misses at best regarding the rest of Ranger. The twins were born that fall, between Tai, Yang and everyone else Ruby had plenty of help through the first year of the kids lives. There still hadn't been any luck in finding Jaune, Ren and Nora. They had been operating under the assumption the trio were travelling together. When they figured out the knight's group had split it made the search that much harder. Then, out of nowhere Qrow showed up in a panic, he had spotted Hazel, Cinder and a whole lot of grimm, close, way too close for comfort. It was his idea to move Ruby and the twins to the secluded Sandalwood Village, he knew it to be a quiet peaceful place, it also just so happened they were in need of a huntress.

A/N: I'm fairly sure this is the longest chapter I've ever written. It'll pick up next time right where this leaves off. I'm dying to pick up Finding A Way, but my idea has the teeniest of spoilers, so, I'm waiting till the weekend to even start it. To think, this chapter and next are building chapters, I'm trying to pace myself better.


End file.
